Family Ties

I'll Drive

Harry's POV

"Doug?" I asked, shocked to see him.

He looked at me, visibly trying to fight back tears as he took a deep breath and I immediately felt panic rush through me. My heart was pounding in my chest at the sight of him, every instinct in my body trying to prepare me for what was coming. Hannah herself had told me she'd only ever seen her dad cry once in her whole life, so my mind was racing with possibilities as to why he would show up at our door like that.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked I stepped aside so he could come into the house, pulling him into me in a hug without thinking about it. "Are you alright?"

He wrapped his arms around me, clinging to me like I was holding him together, as he did his best to compose himself before he let out a deep sigh and pulled away from me. He immediately began to wipe his eyes in an effort to make it look like he hadn't been crying, and I just watched in shock as he tried to pull himself together. He'd always been such a symbol of strength to me, always so strong and together, and it was bizarre to see him like that.

"I, uh. Where's Hannah?" He asked. "I gotta talk to you guys."

His voice was quivering as he spoke, I could tell it was taking all the strength he had not to break down, and he was mentally preparing himself for something. It hurt me to see him like that, I loved him like he was my own father, he was the closest thing I'd ever had. He'd done so much for me, even before I ever knew Hannah. He'd been a friend to me, a support and an example of the kind of man I strived to be, to see him crumbling before me was almost too much.

"She's in the shower...Doug what's going on? What's happened?" I asked as I led him over to the couch and sat him down, where he immediately buried his head in his hands.

He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, cradling his head in his hands as he took deep breaths through the tears that were escaping his eyes. I had no idea how to comfort him, how to help him calm down, but something told me even if I did it wouldn't help him. Whatever this was, it was far beyond the kind of help I knew how to offer, and the knot in my stomach was growing bigger by the second as I waited as patiently as I could for him to tell me what the hell was going on.

I gave him a minute as he tried to compose himself before he looked up at me, his eyes red rimmed as he tried to keep it together.

"Harry, I...I came as soon as I could. I-I don't know how to tell you this...to tell Hannah...I-I don't know how to do this." He sniffled as he looked down at the floor beneath his feet.

I felt the lump rise in my throat, making it difficult to breath as my heart pounded in my chest. I knew whatever he was about to tell me was bad, and I did my best to tap into my ability to compartmentalize things and put my feelings aside. He needed me, that much was obvious, and as hard as I'd worked to open myself up these past few years, I knew I'd have to use my old habits to help him through this.

"Whatever it is, we're here. You've been there for me through so many things, let me help, whatever it is." I said as softly as I could. "I'm here for you, just tell me what's going on."

"I'm gonna need you to help me tell Hannah. I...I just, I need a minute. I can't tell her like this, she can't worry about me on top of it. She can't see me like this."

I felt like I was gonna throw up. The only thing I could imagine was that maybe he and Carol were having problems, maybe they'd had a fight and were taking a break or something. I honestly didn't think there was ever any possibility of them ever leaving each other, but that was the only thing I could think of that would throw him into such a tailspin.